How to be a Mean Mother

A mean mother never allows candy or sweets
to take the place of a well balanced meal.

A mean mother insists on knowing where her children
are at all times, who their friends are and what they do.

A mean mother breaks the Child Labor Law by
making her children work- washing dishes, making beds,
learning to cook and doing other cruel and unpleasant chores.

A mean mother makes life miserable for her
offspring by insisting that they always tell the truth.

A mean mother produces teenagers who are
wiser and more sensible.

A mean mother can smile with secret delight and pride
when she hears her own grandchildren call their parents "mean".

What the world needs now are more Mean Mothers.

~~ Author Unknown ~~

It was tarnished and old with a broken clasp. I tossed it into the drawer.

Why did my mother give it to me, and what would I want it for?

She said I liked it long ago when it was shiny and new.

But why she thought I'd like it now, I really wished I knew.

The years passed by, and my little girl was going through my things,

slipping bracelets on her arm and trying on my rings.

"What's this?" I heard my daughter ask as she held it for me to see.

"Why, it's just an old locket," I replied, "that your grandma gave to me."

"Oh, Mommy, isn't it beautiful? It's shaped just like a book

with pages you can turn inside and pictures... Oh, look, Mommy, look."

I saw it then through a child's new eyes, what I should have seen from the start,

the reason my mother treasured it so and wore it close to her heart.

Now when I'm tempted to look at the surface, discounting what's broken or old,

I think of the locket all tarnished outside with an inside of purest gold.

~~ Author Unknown ~~